GEORGE TOWN, June 20 — PKR members must forget the sex videos and join forces with its Pakatan Harapan (PH) allies to reset the political path of the nation, DAP’s P. Ramasamy said today.
He said the release of the sex videos involving a PKR federal minister was one of the ongoing attempts to portray PKR leaders as incapable of administering the country.
“The sex video was more intended to shatter the political career of Azmin rather than inquire about the truth.
“More so, it was intended to inflict a collateral damage on PKR and its allies,” he said in a statement in response to the release of sex clips last week.
Haziq Abdullah Mohd Aziz, an aide to Deputy Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, admitted he was in the videos while the other person was purportedly Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
A series of short videos has been making the rounds on social media and showed two men getting intimate with one another.
Ramasamy, who is Penang Deputy Chief Minister II, said political expediency has to take the lead regardless of whether there is any basis for the videos.
He said the sex videos were an attempt to demoralise Azmin and that it might not be just an intra-party matter as widely believed.
“It is a more sinister network that clandestinely seeks to end the political chapter of PKR’s dominance in PH,” he said.
He said since the general election last year, it appeared that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was slowly grooming Azmin as his likely successor despite giving assurances that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be the next prime minister.
“Some actions by Mahathir over the last few months, including the appointment of Latheefa Koya as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief, tell tales of obstacles to Anwar’s eventual rise to become the prime minister of the country,” he claimed.
He said the release of the sex clips meant that there were “powerful racial and religious forces” operating to render the Azmin option null and void.
“I am not saying that certain faction or factions who might be aligned with Anwar or not might be responsible for this sexual video thing,” he said.
He also does not rule out the role of forces outside PKR circles having a hand the videos.
He reminded the public that the notion that Anwar will succeed Dr Mahathir was not cast in stone.
“Knowing Mahathir and his contradictory ways, there is nothing to taken for granted. Anwar will never know that he will be the prime minister until he takes the oath in front of the King,” he said.
He believed that the differences between Anwar and Azmin have been allowed to fester to the point of being used against party unity.
“I believe that video is continuation of earlier episodes to ensure that PKR leaders are not suitable to become the future leaders of this country,” he added.
He blamed the internal dissent within PKR on “Malay right forces” that have been against Anwar from the beginning and now are ready to finish off Azmin too.
He told PKR members that the fault is theirs alone as they have allowed the party to be divided by external forces.
“At the end of the day, the losers are not Anwar and Azmin, but the entire members of PKR, a party that made the monumental change in the last general election,” he said.
He said it is not too late for PKR members to forget the videos and join forces with its PH allies and move forward now.
